I don't think they take to kindly towards the Roma. My grandfather didn't allow my mom to learn Spanish because it was a gypsy language. And used to tell her, when she misbehaved that they were going to sell her to the gypsies.

It's not just gypsies. It seems like it's the natives of lots of countries. Maybe because people come, conquer them, take their land and stick them on other land and then give them a stipend to live. They feel bitter, don't want to work, and beg. Seen this in a couple of countries.

Maybe because people come, conquer them, take their land and stick them on other land.

This isn't quite the case with the Roma. They are not the original inhabitants of Romania (or, in fact, any part of Europe). The gypsies immigrated to Romania and other parts of Europe, from the sub-continent if memory serves, about 500 years ago (don't quote me on this!).

During the communist period Ceausescu made an attempt to assimilate the gypsy population by giving them housing (often the sumptuous houses previously belonging to the Romanian nobles), jobs, a salary and so on. Some of them accepted this new situation whilst others returned quickly to their nomadic lifestyle shortly after the fall of communism.

So now we see three approximate groups of Roma. Those who've adapted to modern city life to some extent, living in fixed housing, often working (although some degree of prejudice means they usually end up with jobs at the lower end of the market - street cleaning, construction, market selling, etc). Then there are some 'clans' who still adhere to their traditional ways - these are the ones you see still in traditional dress, they generally roam the country, often work manufacturing and selling particular items of metal ware or such like.

The final group is composed of those who indulge in criminal activity, and these are the ones who create the bad impression for the rest. They often run pickpocketing, prostitution and drug rings. They control the majority of the begging on the streets. They 'protect' beggars on certain routes in exchange for a percentage of their takings. A good beggar can easily bring in about 1000 Euro per month (seriously...often more) but a considerable proportion of this goes to the ring leaders. They are also involved in house burglary, sometimes muggings, car theft; all the usual activities you associate with the criminal classes. Another frequent complaint is of Roma who've been given a chance, given a job, and then robbed their employer blind. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes it very hard for an honest Roma to get a decent position.

Basically, it's a kind of vicious circle. The gypsies get involved in criminal activity because it's hard for them to get involved in legitimate business, and they can't get employed easily by any legitimate business due to their long-term association with criminal activity.

These days the Romanians find it hilarious that the western states of the EU (especially Italy) are suffering from a Roma-induced crime wave. The west has been condoning the Romanians for years about their attitude towards the gypsies without fully understanding the dynamics of the situations.

Getting back to how this might relate to a teacher in Romania:

1. Since the 1st Jan 2007 I've noticed a huge drop in the number of unsavoury characters on the streets. I feel a lot safer on the public transport - pickpocketing incidents were very high pre-EU - and even walking around the town at night feels a little more secure; less pimps and dealers hanging around or following you down the street.

2. The OP asked about being 'dark skinned'. You need to be a little clearer about this. If you're of African origin then you'll have no real problems, except perhaps some staring and curiosity. If you are from the sub-continent you might get some strange looks, but I find that most Romanians can tell who's who quite well. I know a number of Asians (mostly from Indian) and none of them have ever mentioned having any problems.

Anyway, Scot47 made a point about Romania being less racist than some other Central/Eastern European countries and this is certainly true. I don't ever recall seeing or hearing of any skin-head groups, neo-Nazis, right-wingers or that kind of thing. Romanians seem to me to be, on the whole, quite a peaceable people.

A good beggar can easily bring in about 1000 Euro per month (seriously...often more) but a considerable proportion of this goes to the ring leaders.

So, being a beggar or a 'beggar-pimp' would be more lucrative than many EFL positions in Bucharest? People working for certain International language teaching houses might bear this in mind!!

Quote:

I don't ever recall seeing or hearing of any skin-head groups, neo-Nazis, right-wingers or that kind of thing.

Fascist and neo-Nazi groups generally tend to be well organised. Good organisation is a concept far beyond the grasp of most Romanians.

Anyway, anyone who agrees with right wing groups or the like should be exterminated!!!!

On a more serious note, while many Romanians do seem to have a chip on their shoulders about the 'west', they tend to be quite peaceful and to not have an attitude of discrimination or aggression towards foreigners. More likely, when you are a foreigner many less-educated Romanians are thinking "hmmm, how can I make something on this foreigner?"

There is a lot of antipathy towards the Roma. But then, when members of a fringe community (admittedly a small number of them) do things like frequently steal the covers of manholes thus endangering the lives and cars of members of the public, negative feelings towards that community at large are inevitable.

A big problem is that while most members of the Roma community may not engage in criminal behaviour as such, a great many of them do condone it. Because of their overall low education levels, many Roma do not seem to make the connection between poor public perception and the widesperad tolerance among their community of anti-social activities. Of course, fear of the criminal elements within their own community is also a significant factor. Ironically, this is possibly even more the case in western Europe than here in Romania.

The Roma are a longtime scapegoated group with a fascinating, varied and beautiful history and culture. I saw an exhibit in Heidelberg on the Nazis' attempted extermination of the Roma, and recently we have the episode on the Italian beach where two little girls drowned and were ignored by the tourists. But Roma music is highly prized from Spain to Bulgaria.

Fyi - to the lady who asked about Roma. They originated in India, this is why their skin is darker. They, along with the Jews, had a hard time in Europe due to their customs - the gypsies have a bunch of weird ones such as wife buying that most Europeans didn't agree with, and the Jews invented the interest thing, I think it's called usury in the bible, a sin (camata in Romanian). This is why they weren't accepted at first.

Today, it's different. There are many gypsies and jews who are integrated in society. There are some who still live like Borat, the cow in the house while they sleep in the "odaie" - smaller, everyday room. There are also those who have craploads of money, singers and actors like Vali Vijelie, Copilu Minune, even the late Stefan Banica (Banica Jr.'s dad), RIP.

Romanian Gypsy music can be very good indeed. By this I mean the real traditional music, not the krap called Manele so beloved of "neo-Roma" gentlemen in Mercedes/BMW cars who wear gold chains around their necks and colourful designer silk shirts with frilled fronts!

Real Gypsy music is in an entirely different league. Indeed, I really like Romanian traditional music generally, particularly the recurrent bass rhythms that provide such a powerful contrast to the soaring violin notes. Although not Romanian himself, Django Rheinhart used this type of music quite a lot and drew most of his inspiration from the eastern European gypsy genre.

In fact, a lot of musical talent has come out of Romania. Michael Cretu, who is basically half of Enigma, David Visan who has produced many of the Buddha Bar albums and Alexandru Balanescu, who with his string quartet has worked with Kraftwerk [who among you has heard the violin version of Autobahn?] and David Byrne over the years, are all Romanian.

And if any of you are in Bucharest and want to hear some real gypsy music, go to the village of Clejani about 50Km south of the capital.

I know, I know, I appreciate the old stuff too, musica lautareasca, but I can shake it to a good manea too. What can I say? I like to dance in good company.

Anyway, I love Taraful din Clejeani. Oh, datmale, Margareto intoarce-te. Lol. That song cracks me up, and there's another one sang by "ursari" - all gypsy and lots of clapping. Unique indeed. When I'm there, we'll have those two bottles of wine you have on the side.

What I'm saying to the questioner - not all Romanians hate gypsies, and most certainly have seen black people, some are mixed, you see them on TV, half African half Romanian. People will look, but probably because they think you are unique, that's all. Kinda like blonds in the Middle East, they always get stares.